By Community Correspondent: Jamie MacEwan

The recession in Britain has lasted 5 quarters now. Hundreds of thousands more people are without jobs and many others have taken pay cuts to stay in work.

At a time when the value of our economy is decreasing, you would expect prices to be generally falling.

So why have we been warned about expected rises in energy prices from the top electricity providers in the UK?

British Gas, Scottish Power, Eon, Scottish and Southern Energy and EDF energy have all affirmed that lowering prices was not a possibility. Ofgem, which looks after our interests in the energy market, was told by Scottish Power that, “there are risks of an increase next year”.

It is not just Ofgem who are concerned. Consumer Focus have stated their alarm at this turn of events: “In spite of increased [profit] margins … there is talk of higher domestic bills.”

It would certainly seem that prices are being hiked up unnecessarily, but with no effective public resistance it continues in this way.

The Energy companies maintain their reasons, however. Several factors are playing a part – they are distributing power bought 18 months ago when it was at a higher price and there are increased costs in non-commodity costs, countering big drops in the cost of raw fuel.

This is why British Gas sustained in their letter: “[prices] are likely to remain at historically high levels … likely to increase”.

Any respite, however paltry, now looks unlikely for Britain’s hampered homeowners. Do children have a responsibility to help their families? Kids watch an average of 4 hours of TV a day and more often than not have a set in their room.

They are surprisingly positive about assisting in cutting down on the bills. Bradley Osbourne, a South London schoolboy states: “I already take showers and my video game and TV use is only 5 hours a week. I’ll just continue like that.”

David Streather, 16, also supported helping one's family in a difficult time. “Kids definitely have a responsibility to help their families by cutting down a little, but not too much.”